Picture of the Week: The Flaming Lips Turn the Stage Into a Fun Zone

Indie pop duo Phantogram opened for the Flaming Lips when the psych rockers rolled through Atlanta, Ga. recently, and singer-guitarist Josh Carter took full advantage of his band’s VIP all-access privileges. When the Lips hit the stage of Centennial Olympic Park, Carter was armed with a camera and ready to shoot — and lucky for us, he’s shared some of the results with his Twitter fanbase.

And those results are quite stunning. In the picture above, Wayne Coyne stands in front of a massive crowd, right arm raised and wielding a megaphone that seems to be releasing a billowing cloud of colored smoke. Giant green, white and yellow balloons bounce around on top of the crowd, and the sheer joy and excitement of a Flaming Lips live concert experience is palpable.

Obviously there’s no way of knowing what music accompanies this scene, but for some reason we imagine a well-timed version of ‘Do You Realize?’ or ‘She Don’t Use Jelly’ — something about this moment screams out “hit single”! Next we imagine a ride in his giant see-though gerbil ball, which would obviously make for another sweet Twitter pic. But Coyne’s gerbil ball exploits are so well documented, we almost prefer this scene. When it comes to the Lips, even the more low-key moments are among the most magical.